Geno Joins the Pantheon with 1,000th Win

Geno Auriemma and Chris Daily enjoy the moment after Auriemma
joined the coaching pantheon with his 1,000th victory over Oklahoma
at the Mohegan Sun Arena on Tuesday night.

By Bob Phillips

Editorial Director

Inside Connecticut Sports

UNCASVILLE – No one in their right mind expected Oklahoma to beat the undefeated and top

-ranked University of Connecticut Huskies last night. And guess what? Everyone was right. Napheesa Collier led all scorers with 21 points, while Katie Lou Samuelson added 19, Kia Nurse had 17, and Azura Stevens came off the bench to pour in 20 and lead the undefeated Huskies over the Sooners 88-64 before a packed house at the Mohegan Sun Arena last night.

The Huskies sprinted out to an early lead. Junior All-American Katy Lou Samuelson drained a trey off a beautiful pass from 5-11 sparkplug Gabby Williams in the paint just over a minute into the game, and that set the tone for the Huskies, who opened the contest on a 14-4 run. Normally, that wouldn’t seem to be an obstacle too much to overcome. But for unranked Oklahoma playing No. 1 Connecticut on a night its Hall of Fame coach was attempting to cement his position in college basketball’s pantheon by winning his 1,000^th game… yeah, that was pretty much it.

Even when Williams, the 5-11 senior forward from Sparks, Nev., limped off the court at the five-minute mark after committing her second foul, no one among the 9,151 fans in attendance seemed overly concerned about anything other than the health of last year’s defensive player of the year, of course. But not so fast, Husky fans. Ana Llanusa drained a trey for the Sooners on the ensuing possession, and whaddaya know? The Huskies were only leading by seven, 14-7 at the midway point of the first period. Game on.

Williams went into the locker room to have her leg checked, but returned to the bench moments later. A brutal inside move by Stevens, a 6-6 junior forward, that was parlayed into a traditional three-point play, gave the Huskies a 19-9 lead with just over three left in the first. Katie Lou popped one in from downtown Norwich, the Huskies turned up the defensive pressure and ended the first period leading by 12 points, 28-16.

If you hadn’t seen it with your own eyes, you’d never think the Huskies played half the opening stanza without one of their key players. They finished the period with seven assists on 10 made field goals. Indeed, Williams re-entered the game early in the second period only to be called for charging on her first touch—her third foul—and immediately returned to the pines.

Connecticut opened the second period on a 6-0 run. A nice 10-foot jumper by Stevens, the 6-6 Duke transfer, off an inbound pass from Samuelson put Connecticut up 31-16 with 8:21 remaining in the first half. Crystal Dangerfield drained a trey on the next possession and the Huskies led by 18 with just under eight minutes left in the period.

Time out Oklahoma. The Huskies were 5-for-9 from beyond the arc—three coming compliments of Katie Lou.

Business as usual, in other words.

Auriemma, the master of strategy, assigned a second body—sometimes Kia Nurse, other times Crystal Dangerfield—to guard Oklahoma’s best player, Gabbi Ortiz, who scored her first points of the contest more than halfway through the second period. Ortiz, the only player on either team to go all 40 minutes, finished with 11 points.

“I’d like to play all our games here,” said Auriemma in jest. Indeed, the Huskies will be back in Uncasville in less than three months as the American Athletic Conference championship game will be played at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

Three other Sooners—Maddie Manning, Vionise Pierre-Louis, and Shaina Pellington also scored in double digits with 15, 14 and 10 points respectively, but the difference in talent between the two teams was palpable. You know that adage about heart and character being the key elements in a team’s success? Don’t believe it.

A trey by senior guard Kia Nurse drilled a three-pointer to put the Huskies up by 21, 42-22, with 4:15 left in the half. It was turning into the classic Connecticut conundrum for opponents—who the heck do you guard? Pick this one and that one scores. Pick that one and … you get the picture. Uncontested passes leading to shots from every part of the floor.

Indeed, Nurse is shooting 55 percent from beyond the arc. Auriemma claims she doesn’t shoot well at all in practice. If that’s the case (and we’re guessing it isn’t), then the 6-0 guard from Hamilton, Ontario, who played against her college mentor as a member of the Canadian Olympic team in Rio last summer (not to mention a pre-Olympic tune-up tilt in Bridgeport) certainly saves it up for game time.

“To me, Kia Nurse embodies mental toughness,” says Doris Burke, the Providence College Hall of Famer from Providence College who went on to become an outstanding broadcaster. “She does all the dirty work that needs to be done—and welcomes it!”

Geno’s Sidekick

The term “daytime wife” is a well-worn cliché, but in the case of UConn bench coach Chris Daily, it is entirely appropriate. Daily, who interviewed for the job when Auriemma was hired, was hired as his assistant, and has been by his side for each of his 1,000 wins. Whereas Auriemma is the visionary leader, Daily takes care of the details—or, in Burke’s words, “all the dirty work.”

“You know, the first 12 were the hardest of all 1,000 of them; trust me,” said the coach, himself. “It's a great memory I have of that group,” said the coach, himself, about his first team at Connecticut. “They were so excited, so happy, and I have never seen a bunch of kids happier to get 12 wins.”

Many of Auriemma's former players made the trek back to Connecticut to share this historic milestone with their mentor, including players from that 19-85-86 team.

“To see them today, and see where they have been, they still carry it around with them” said Auriemma of his former players, all of whom will always share a strong bond with Geno. “They'll always be a part of this.”

“It’s remarkable what they’ve built here, and how they’ve gone about understanding their respective roles,” added Daily, who interviewed for the job when Auriemma was hired, was hired as his assistant, and has been by his side for each of his 1,000 wins.

Because Connecticut runs so hard, they create constant mismatches. And so, whenever Oklahoma (or virtually any other team) goes on a mini-run, the Huskies always seem to be able to answer. “They are so unselfish in sharing the basketball,” said Burke.

“We’re so used to scoring that we want to score quickly and sometimes it’s not there quickly,” said Auriemma, who can make a sunny day May sound as if it were the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, at halftime. “Forty-eight points—that’s a lot… but I’m not crazy about the way we’re guarding [Oklahoma].”

"We get a little careless; we get a little sloppy at times,” continued the fastest coach in NCAA history—men’s or women’s—to reach 600, 700, 800, 900 and now, 1,000 wins.

Did I mention that the Huskies were leading 48-33 at intermission?

Mattie Manning led Oklahoma with 15 points at halftime on 6-for-11 shooting, including 3-of-4 from downtown.

Indeed, after Pellington drained a jumber with 4:49 remaining in the third quarter, the Sooners closed to within seven points, 51-44. But at that point, the aforementioned Husky stacked deck took over, allowing Auriemma to join an exclusive club that until yesterday listed but three members—Pat Summitt, the legendary late Tennessee coach; former Stanford mentor Tara Vanderveer; and Duke men’s head coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Ironically, North Carolina women’s coach Sylvia Hatchell joined Auriemma, et al., in the 1,000-win club last night, as well, after leading the Tar Heels to a 79-63 win over Grambling State.

Connecticut was coming off an 11-day break after crushing DePaul, 103-69, in Chicago on Dec. 8. But that hardly affected the Huskies. Indeed, it seemed to help, once the Huskies shook off the rust.

"In a sense, the break was a really good thing, because you get to step back and be home for a little while after long travels, and you get to refresh your mind," said Nurse. "You're not necessarily playing games, you're just practicing and trying to get better at the little things. I think today we came out OK and we had to keep pushing through."

Besides, this evening was about more than just a basketball game, right?

“Everyone understands this is win No. 1,000 for coach Auriemma and assistant coach Daily, but it’s more a matter of how they play the game,” said Swin Cash, one of the more than 350 UConn players to have learned the game under Auriemma and Daily. Cash went on to star in the WNBA with the Detroit Shock and also played under Auriemma with the U.S. Olympic team in 2012.

In the end, Auriemma, his place long-since cemented in college basketball history, remained humble. As always.

“It was very nice of the people to show their appreciation,” he said. “I really appreciate that.”

—with staff reports